Dark Souls - First Impressions

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
I love how the music for this encounter has this sedate quasi-romantic quality instead of the usual and almost expected bombastic overture.

Me as well. This kind of subversion isn´t particularly novel, but in this case it just worked exceptionally well. On my second character I was intentionally prolonging the battle to savour the moment.
Partially also because, similarly as with Manus, I managed to sorta screw the magic of this encounter the first time, mainly since

Spoiler

I had help from a certain NPC and the battle took about 10 seconds due to it.
Speaking of which, I actually thought having help for this fight was normal and discovered only later that it certainly wasn´t so - getting it the proper way is among the more ridiculously obscure things in the game, but I´ve unknowingly bypassed it by killing a certain creature through a wall .

At any rate, Dark Souls is a poetic game .

Anyway, so … which

Spoiler

ending did you choose?

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
Well, it's been a jolly grand adventure. Thanks all for reading my bollocksy words and also to the posters who gave assistance and words of wisdom along the way.

Comgratulations Pessimeister, I am still at the beginning and not sure if I'll ever finish it, but we will see. I have skipped through most of your recent posts to avoid spoilers, but will come back to this thread later on.

Upon reflection, my rather blind enjoyment of the game has probably manifested in the form of too many spoilers appearing in my posts! Thus, apologies to the people unfortunately affected.

Anyway, so … which

Spoiler

ending did you choose?

Spoiler –I had a choice? :D

I was in a bit of an exhausted daze of awe it must be said after the Gwyn fight and actually did the most mindless and instinctual thing possible: See bonfire, light bonfire! There wasn't even a flicker of recognition that I may have been inadvertently choosing an ending. The game had created that such a strong force of habit. Definitely something to consider next time! Also, I didn't realise one could get help with the fight…shall have to check that out too.

@GBG: Keep hacking away, bit by bit. The game is most enjoyable digested ultra slowly I think. Actually, according to the in game measurement, I clocked up over 150 hours! I don't think I've done that in a game since New Vegas.

I've just received my copy of Dark Souls for the PS3 and I'd like to ask some feedback. I get that if you die once, you need to recover your souls from your previous place of death. But if you die without recovering them, are they really lost forever? Because if they are, then, damn. That's harsh as hell. I already died twice loosing all souls I had on me. And it sucks that regular demons respawn as you're trying to recover your body.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
I've just received my copy of Dark Souls for the PS3 and I'd like to ask some feedback. I get that if you die once, you need to recover your souls from your previous place of death. But if you die without recovering them, are they really lost forever? Because if they are, then, damn. That's harsh as hell. I already died twice loosing all souls I had on me. And it sucks that regular demons respawn as you're trying to recover your body.

Well, I think my character is gimped. I'm constantly getting my ass handed to me by two skeletons right after exiting the firelink shrine. I can't even seem to kill one, before they slaughter me. They're fast as hell. I'm constantly rolling around trying to evade, but I've no chance. I've not felt this frustrated ever since I played Severance - Blade of Darkness. Oh, well I guess I should start anew since I lost about 2500 souls so far, and that's about 3 levels lost.

EDIT: Yeah, I just watched a walkthrough and it seems I missed a path, and heading through the graveyard is way above my level. Good to know.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Yeah, I did the exact same thing when I first started playing.

It will be awhile before you can comfortably take on those skeletons. What character class did you choose?

I think wanderer or something.
But it's brutal. I'm considering whether it's worth putting in the time&effort into this game. I reached the Taurus Demon, or whatever it's name is, and he mopped the floor with me. And I lost 2600 souls. And I have to redo killing a dozen or so zombies just to get to him again. And he'll probably mop the floor with me again. I think I'll try again tomorrow. I'm too tired right now.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Get used to dying. You haven't even reached the "hard" areas yet.

Maybe think about starting over with a different character. Also, do some research on the web. There are several places where you can find tip for beginners.

Yes, don't give up. It will get better as you level up and find better equipment and armour. Regarding the Taurus Demon, he only moves in straight lines over the bridge so you can easily predict his pattern.

Originally Posted by Dagar
A Wanderer is a very good class with stats spread out nicely. It's the class I chose and now have her up to level 90 (high dex, awesome damage with Queelag's Fury Sword and max pyromancy).

You need to take it slow and learn how to play (with any class!).
Those skeletons are way too tough at the beginning of the game - for any class. Head up the mountain to the Undead Burg. Explore.

The game is not a pushover (which is refreshing in this "hold your hand" era) and is very rewarding to those who continue on with the challenge.

I won't recommend Queelag's Furysword unless you have +10 Humanity constantly to maximize its damage, which means you shouldn't die at any cost instead, a good +15 Dex weapon (i.e. with S scaling) and you're good to go. I think QFS is a good weapon over all but does its best with certain encounters.

Another good class to start with is the Pyromancer: you can easily go for a STR or, even better, MAG build (which rocks in DkS). Also, fire damage right from the start is a plus.

Well, as long as you don't repeat ad nauseum that you're having trouble with the controls like you did in the early part of the thread regarding the save system, your reports might make interesting reading. Nice to hear that you're giving it a go, however.

Originally Posted by Ball_Breaker
I won't recommend Queelag's Furysword unless you have +10 Humanity constantly to maximize its damage, which means you shouldn't die at any cost instead, a good +15 Dex weapon (i.e. with S scaling) and you're good to go. I think QFS is a good weapon over all but does its best with certain encounters.

Another good class to start with is the Pyromancer: you can easily go for a STR or, even better, MAG build (which rocks in DkS). Also, fire damage right from the start is a plus.

Thanks for the tip - my Queelag's Furysword is now replaced with a +15 Balder Side Sword. What a wicked combination with my Dex build. A nasty weapon that does awesome damage very quickly. Took down Artorias of the Abyss in Oolacile with it MUCH quicker than my other weapons ever had a chance.

I've been pretty much finished with my first playthrough for a while now (currently level 104). I'm going through the Oolcacile add-on before I finish up the game and start a NG+. Fun times!

I bought the game during Christmas Steam sale and now that I have ~60 hours in it, I would say it is really impressive. The controls took some time to get used to and they still feel clunky from time to time, but that became rather minor glitch. And more so after applying simple mouse mod that made the behavior more PC friendly.

So far this is probably the most remarkable experience since I started to play computer games again before 2 years (so the list has names like Fallout New Vegas, Divinity Ergo Draconis, Diablo III, Oblivion, Skyrim, …). I cannot recall I've ever experienced such strong feelings of despair and satisfaction.